Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

The stop motion animated Christmas classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a tradition in my home. And with good reason! It first aired in 1964 and is the longest running, highest rated holiday special in television history. We try to watch it every year, and we haven’t missed many. It gets everyone in the proper holiday frame of mind and I know my daughters and most of my grandchildren can recite it by heart. God knows I can! So the subject and characters come naturally to me, and I’m proud to have my art associated with Rudolph (and one of my heroes, Burl Ives!).

So I was honored when first approached to work on Rudolph designs. And I immediately had a vision for the pieces themselves, like this new light-up nose Rudolph with Wreath piece. This stuff came easy to me! But to tell the truth I didn’t have a clue how these pieces would sell, whether anyone else had the same sort of attachment to these particular characters that I did! I think my first clue to the success of these designs came on a trip to QVC. I was working with a host I didn’t know very well, it was her first time working with me. But when I told her I was working on Rudolph her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree! She went into her best Hermey imitation and said something about how she wanted to be a dentist! Apparently she knew the script by heart too! From that moment I thought we’d have a hit on our hands. And I was right!